Article written by CALSSA Executive Director, Bernadette Del Chiaro, for the Sacramento Bee

California has become a tinder box with more than 75 communities most at risk of severe wildfires: physically, socially, and financially.

PG&E’s response to the high fire risk – pulling the plug – brings our lives to a standstill. We lost roughly 200,000 MWh of power in the 2018 and 2019 blackouts. In human terms, that means schools shut down, food goes to waste, businesses shutter, wells stop pumping, traffic slows, and people in critical need of power for medical assistance are stranded.

The writing of sustained fire danger may be on the wall: PG&E’s blackouts are not the economically or socially sustainable answer. There is a better solution.

Recent PG&E blackouts are the most significant outages in our state’s history, but California has always had the most unreliable power service in the United States—outpacing runner-up Texas by almost double the number of power-cuts in the last ten years. Where do we begin to find solutions for a problem as systemic and pervasive as ours?

The solution has been shining on us all along: the sun.

We are seeing more businesses, homes and government agencies turn to solar and storage for a reliable energy alternative. Today’s solar battery is not only affordable, it allows us to make the sun shine at night to power our homes, and in the future our electric cars.

Solar installations paired with storage improve air quality and address the very real threat of climate change in actionable, accessible ways. In addition to significantly reducing energy costs for all utility customers, local solar and storage technology is also job-intensive: mobilizing the workforce in safe, skilled, and secure working conditions in the communities we live.

The blackouts necessitate local energy supplies and provide conditions for them to thrive, but outdated policies and barriers from utilities impede consumers from getting cost-effective, clean and reliable solar and storage technologies. Solar and storage could be powering communities in need, particularly in times of crisis, and saving energy, money, and lives, but the reliance on a broken, unsustainable electric grid endures. California should be doing more.

California needs to put forward energy solutions that are as big as the problems that need to be solved. Toward that end, Governor Newsom should announce a plan to build a million solar batteries in five years. This will support the creation of more resilient homes, businesses, and communities throughout California.

Local, smart energy resources like solar roofs and garage batteries can transform our energy system into one that puts consumers first, keeps the lights on for everyone, helps prevent more grid-caused disasters, and is one of the most concrete and tangible ways to engage everyone in fighting climate change.

What Governor Schwarzenegger did for solar panels in the wake of the 2001 energy crisis - with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative - Governor Newsom can do for energy storage with the Million Solar Batteries Initiative. In an energy landscape bolstered by storage, the state would be empowered by a comprehensive solar and storage policy that pays for itself over time. A clear and sustained initiative would give companies the certainty they need to ramp up manufacturing, streamline installations, and lower costs.

The cost of going solar dropped 80% during Schwarzenegger’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative. We can do the same for energy storage with the help of big, bold leadership.

The need of the hour is to empower consumers and communities to build a safer, more resilient local energy supply. We need to re-imagine a creative, brave future where millions of people can keep the lights on with local clean energy.

We need to prioritize and incentivize solar and storage technology for individuals, low-income housing, businesses, and schools in order to lower costs and remove barriers. We need to support a local, clean energy revolution, where communities lead the way in building local energy that is safe and reliable. The time is now.

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